While the legal world and beyond on Monday buzzed with news that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had retained Beth Wilkinson, the star litigator was 3,000 miles from Washington.

The Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz founder spent much of the day in the fourth-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California. It was Day 5 of a 10-day bench trial, and Wilkinson is lead counsel to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, fending off an antitrust suit that challenges limits on compensating student-athletes.